Good morning. The TikTok generation is trading sunblock for sunburns, using apps to optimize their summer glow — more on that below, along with the one-year anniversary of Jasper’s wildfire and Ozzy Osbourne’s musical legacy. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Carney signals that a U.S. trade deal could come later than Aug. 1
- In Kyiv, Canada’s ambassador shows solidarity by standing firm
- Ottawa’s hotel bill for asylum seekers reaches $1.1-billion, with tens of millions more earmarked this year
Spanish sunbathers earlier this summer.JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images
Health
Sizzle reel
The kids are tanning again. They’re frying themselves to a Paris Hilton Y2K crisp. They’re speeding along the entire process with gels that are basically Vaseline and lotions that are literally beer. (The Cleveland Clinic actually stepped in to warn about the perils of “beer tanning.”) They’re using apps with names like Rayz and Beam to track peak UV hours, so they can hustle outside and sharpen their tan lines by lying in the sun. Then they’re showing off their handiwork on social media, where the hashtag “tanlines” has appeared in more than 236 million TikTok posts.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 70 per cent of Gen Z report actively tanning. Half of them say they returned with a burn, a number that ticks up to 57 per cent in Canada. And while the pursuit of a sun-baked complexion is at least a century old – back when Josephine Baker launched her own tanning oil and Coco Chanel said “a golden tan is the index of chic” – this generation appears to be worryingly unaware of the risks. Maybe the beer tanning tipped you off: 28 per cent of 18- to 26-year-olds say they don’t believe suntans cause skin cancer. And 68 per cent admit they often forgo sunscreen.
Real quick: Scientists estimate that exposure to UV radiation is associated with 80 to 90 per cent of all skin cancers. That includes melanoma, which is its most fatal form. Sunscreen isn’t a silver bullet – flat-out sun avoidance and sun-protective clothing are the best ways to keep your skin safe. Still, study after study after study have shown that regular sunscreen use reduces your risk of developing skin cancer.
But that message doesn’t tend to accompany those #tanlines Tiktoks. Timothy Caulfield, a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta, told The Globe that what’s playing out on social media instead is nothing short of an “anti-sunscreen movement.” He chalks that up to the power of online influencers such as American podcaster Joe Rogan, who has floated the idea that sunscreen can damage the brain. (It can’t.) Wellness bro Andrew Huberman said on his show that the chemicals in sunscreen may be endocrine disruptors. (They’re not.) Trad-couple influencers Nara and Lucky Blue Smith whipped up their own sunscreen from coconut oil and shea butter. The process – which you really should not try at home – has been viewed on TikTok nearly 22 million times.
Do this instead!Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
To the most bullish sunscreen truthers, the sun is all-natural and SPF is synthetic, peddled by Big Pharma to keep you sick. It’s an easy theory that fits tidily into the whole Make America Healthy Again movement, where measles are treated with cod liver oil, not vaccines, and milk is best when it’s raw, not pasteurized, and bone marrow is a daily menu staple. Sometimes, MAHA worlds collide: A brand called Primally Pure is now hawking a sunscreen alternative made from beef tallow.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who sports a serious bronze himself – posted last year that the war on sunshine (and anything else that “can’t be patented by Pharma”) was about to end. It’s all having an impact on young adults. The Orlando Health Cancer Institute found that 14 per cent of them felt it was more harmful to wear sunscreen every day than to go without. Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z said getting a tan was more important than preventing skin cancer anyway.
In his inaugural address last January, U.S. President Donald Trump – another tanning enthusiast – promised to usher in a new golden age. This might not exactly be the hue he was aiming for, but it’s looking increasingly like the one he’ll get.
The Shot
‘Jasper’s beauty and spirit have always inspired.’
A sign on a temporary fence in Jasper.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
One year ago, a 50-metre-high wildfire overtook Jasper, displacing the entire town and destroying at least a third of its buildings. Read more here about the long road to recovery – and how residents are working to rebuild their community.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: A cybersecurity breach at the $4-billion hedge fund manager Waratah, which handles money for wealthy Canadians, may have exposed names, social insurance numbers and account sizes.
Abroad: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home early for the summer to avoid a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Music: Just weeks after playing the final Black Sabbath concert, heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76.
Sports: Canadian soccer phenom Olivia Smith is the first female player to fetch a £1-million transfer fee after signing with Arsenal of England’s Women’s Super League.
Pop: It was a banner second quarter for Coca-Cola, which beat profit estimates and is about to put cane sugar back in its drinks.